A 12-year-old figure skater from Great Dunmow won the British Championships in her age group last week (November 30).

Jasmine Cressey, a Helena Romanes School pupil, beat more than 35 other skaters.

She has been skating since she was aged five. This year alone Jasmine has won five out of seven competitions, and is jet-setting across the world next year to take part in more events.

Jasmine said: “I’m really happy about it, and I am really excited to keep on training and going on. It felt really nice.

“I hope I win again but I just need to try my best.”

People helping her include her choreographer Vicky Ogden, from Dancing on Ice, and this year the Great Dunmow Round Table funded a trip to Austria for her to train with Yuri Bureiko – who coached the senior men’s British champion.

Her main coach, who has helped from the beginning, is Chelmsford-based John Wicker.

In March she will go to Hungary for the Avas Cup and in April she will enter the Rooster Cup in Paris.

Olympics 2022 in Beijing is a long-term goal, but she needs to find a permanent sponsor to make her dream a reality. Every year the cost racks up to £9,000 – including a Swarovski crystal dress costing £834 – but mum Michaella said it is like her daughter’s university fund, to help Jasmine achieve her dream.

She said: “Jasmine has worked incredibly hard for the last year, but she’s a nice kid, she’s not precocious. She trains hard, she works hard at school, and she worked her way up.”

The family are grateful to Helena Romanes for supporting her dream – she misses school on Mondays and is 30 minutes late each day, while she trains.